How to check a news story yourself
A five-minute routine for spotting when a headline leaves out the context.
Most of the posts on this site follow one method. Anyone can use it.
- Read past the headline. The context often sits several paragraphs down. Note where the key fact first appears.
- Find the original. If a story says someone "accused" or "claimed" something, look up what they actually said or wrote, word for word.
- Look for the other side of the ledger. If bad results got a dedicated story, check whether good results from the same company got one too.
- Compare with peers. Is the same kind of event covered when it happens to a different company or person?
- Check the date. Old stories get recirculated, and figures go out of date.
Then link your sources so anyone can check your work. That's the rule every post here tries to follow.